I Had A Dream
by restive
Summary: Modern P&P. Elizabeth is a law student, Darcy is a rich lawyer. Circumstances drive them together. What will they bring into each other's lives?
1. Chapter 1

There was nothing Elizabeth hated more than travelling through central London. She was on the bus to get to the party her sister Jane and her _very serious_ (as stressed by Lizzy's mother) boyfriend were hosting, and she was dangerously late. Jane always fooled people with her pretty looks and angelic face, but she also masterfully made others feel guilty by one simple expression of her blue eyes. It was the sort of look puppies had when they were denied an extra treat - the one that made you feel like a complete arsehole.

So Lizzy was worried, and sixteen texts from Jane in the last hour definitely did nothing to help the situation.

Sighing with relief and certain anticipation, she walked down to the lower deck on the bus, intending to get off at the next stop, when her phone started buzzing again.

"Hello, Janie, great to hear from you so… often," Lizzy said mockingly-cheerful and, having quickly thanked the bus driver, got off onto the wet pavement. She wrinkled her nose and wrapped herself in her coat – it was raining. Lizzy never liked rain.

"Where _are_ you, Lizzy?"

"Literally down the street."

"Lizzy, you're very late—"

"Love you, Jane. See you in a minute!" she chirped and hung up, running up the street to the massive and extremely posh building. She explained the concierge that she was attending the penthouse party that must been in the full swing by now.

The lift brought her to the top floor, where the doors opened and Lizzy fought the urge to open her mouth in amazement. The flat being _posh_ (as Jane initially put it when she first told Lizzy about it) was a massive understatement. It rather reminded her of the sort of flats that were featured in the _Gossip Girl_. And the people that were at the party were dressed like Upper East Side elite. Too bad Lizzy wasn't rich and the limit of her spending was set on a dress from Zara. She'd lie if she said she was too upset about that.

"Don't you look hot," said her best friend Charlotte, having appeared out of nowhere with a glass of champagne in her hand.

Lizzy had her coat taken, and after that Charlotte linked their arms, giggling in a way that made it obvious she had a little too much champagne already.

"Seriously? You're tipsy already? The party started an hour ago," Lizzy mocked her friend, and Charlotte merely rolled her eyes in response.

"Which makes you an hour late, honey. Jane is furious."

Lizzy snorted. "I respect the importance of being _fashionably_ late. Besides, Jane never gets furious. She's Jane."

"Oh no," Charlotte looked at her with an overly-serious expression, "she is furious."

Lizzy looked at the screen of her phone, "Well, she didn't send me _that_ many texts, so I'm sure it'll be—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because Charlotte suddenly tripped (all that bloody champagne) and yanked Lizzy's arm by inertia. Lizzy tumbled forward, her phone flying out of her hand. A wave of panic hit her, but then, as she was finding balance again, she saw that her phone was miraculously saved from falling onto hard tile floor by a man she's never seen before.

Lizzy let out half a sigh half a laugh as relief flooded her brain. Her whole life was in that phone, and she could literally kiss this guy who saved her life a few moments ago.

"Thank you," she breathed and took her phone mint-cased phone out of his hand, "so much. I don't know how you managed to do that; _very_ impressive," she giggled and gave the man a smile.

He was very handsome, in a dark, brooding sort of way. He did look a little too old for her though, maybe around his late twenties? She wasn't sure.

In any case, he didn't return the smile and, having mumbled sternly, "It would help if you could be more careful next time," walked off.

"Okay," Lizzy said with her eyebrows raised, looking at his disappearing figure, "you have yourself a good night too. How rude!" she turned to Charlotte, who stood next to Lizzy, still holding her forearm, looking slightly paler than usual. "Hey, I think you've spilled some champagne," she chuckled, but her friend's expression didn't change. "What's wrong? Don't tell me that guy's mood rubbed off on you…"

"Do you know who you just talked to?" Charlotte asked with a panicked face (something Lizzy once again blamed on the alcohol) and tugged on Lizzy's frilled sleeve.

"No, otherwise I would've called him by his name."

"That was William Darcy. He's Charles' best friend?"

"Jane's Charlie?" Lizzy asked, and Charlotte rolled her eyes again.

"Bingo. He's as rich as the devil, his family used to own half of Derbyshire."

"The miserable half, I presume?" They both chuckled at that.

"Anyway, he's very single and would be a massive prize for anyone. Maybe you should go and try to flirt with him," Charlotte wiggled her eyebrows. "You seem like his type."

"And how on earth would you tell that just from seeing him for fifteen seconds?" Now it was Lizzy's turn to roll her eyes.

"Well, you're _everyone's_ type. Funny, pretty, smart… You do law, for god's sake! Darcy's a lawyer too, works in one of the Magic Circle's firms."

"I'm not a lawyer, I'm a first year, Charlotte. That's hardly anything… so far," she reasonably retorted.

Charlotte waved her hand at her. "Never mind that, just trust me—"

"Lizzy!"

Lizzy turned her head and saw that it was Jane who exclaimed her name, and didn't get a chance to say anything in response before her sister embraced her.

"Are you okay?" Lizzy asked, furrowing her brows.

"I'm so glad you're here. I was worried you were bailing on me."

"Why would I do that?" She asked, moving away from her sister so that she could see her face.

Jane looked perfect, as always. A light blue flowy dress with ribbons that tied around her ribcage. She looked like she actually came to a ball, not to a party where people just stood and talked to each other, and only some danced. _What a boring party_ , Lizzy thought, but didn't say anything to Jane.

"Because I said how important it was to me that you meet and make a good impression on Charlie and his friends and sisters… You don't like when people put pressure on you," she explained, gesturing a little awkwardly, but endearingly all the same.

Lizzy rolled her eyes – not in an annoyed, but rather amused way. "I had a 5pm tutorial, I told you. And our contract tutorials always run over because the guy apparently thinks that if he doesn't have any social life on Friday nights, no one else does. And after that, I had to come to halls and change and do my makeup… I wouldn't bail on you, and I'm ready to meet Charlie and whoever else it is that I need to meet."

Jane hugged her again and briefly looked her over. "You look _so_ nice," she smiled in approval of Lizzy's short mint dress and high heels.

"Following your orders," she saluted with a mischievous smile.

"But why are all your dresses so short?" suddenly asked Charlotte. "I'm not judging, just observing," she added hastily after Lizzy gave her an unimpressed look.

"Never liked long gowns," shrugged Lizzy. "Those make me feel fat," she wrinkled her nose at her own words.

Jane laughed, throwing her head back, her hair flowing in perfect blonde waves. "That makes zero sense," she said and linked her arm with her sister's. "Nice to know you don't change. Shall we?" she asked, and Lizzy tried not to sigh at that.

"Sure."

* * *

Meeting Charles (or _Charlie_ , as Jane always called him in her sweet voice) wasn't bad at all. Lizzy was pleasantly surprised with his outgoing attitude and dashing looks, but especially by the fact that he seemed to worship the ground Jane walked on. Only that last thing made her decide that she was very much happy with her sister's relationship. Jane was a kind person and people had used it before to their own favour. Charles simply didn't seem like the sort of person to do that.

She also had to meet Darcy, then Charles' sisters – Caroline and Louisa – and Louisa's husband Ben. While she wasn't at all surprised by Darcy's sullen attitude, she was completely astonished by how shallow the sisters and Ben were. Ben didn't seem to talk about anything but politics and overall gratified her with one sentence, and simply continued with his conversation with some other men he had met at this party. Caroline and Louisa differed both in appearance but also in attitude and behaviour. Louisa looked as if she was about to die of boredom, glancing at her husband from time to time disapprovingly, and downing one champagne glass after another. Despite the fact that she was shorter and a chubbier than her sister, her face appeared kinder than Caroline's and Lizzy found her a lot prettier and more appealing. Caroline, however, she didn't like at all, especially for her open hostility. Lizzy had no idea what she had done to Charles' sister to piss her off, but she made blindingly rude comments on the things Lizzy said and also talked with fake gentleness to Jane, which annoyed Lizzy even more. She wondered how people who had grown up with the same parents and in the same circumstances could be so different (especially considering Charles' constantly happy face and kind words), but then she remembered that out of her four sisters not one had a personality similar to another, and dropped that thought.

The introductions didn't last long, and soon Jane and Charles joined the couples on the dance floor, while Elizabeth excused herself to go to the loo. She stood in front of the mirror, trying to tame her curly hair that curled even more after she walked in the rain. She had a love/hate relationship with it. However, she did like how she looked tonight, since she had been able to choose her outfit herself, without her mother's _kind_ guidance, who always wanted her to show as much cleavage as possible. "It's never too early to find a husband, Lizzy," she often said, and Elizabeth just quietly sighed, knowing pretty well that there was no chance on earth that she would get married at 18.

Having left the bathroom, she wandered around, looking for Charlotte or Jane, but then got a text and paused to reply it.

"Why don't you go and talk to someone?" she heard Charles' voice and lifted her head. She stood not too far behind him and Darcy, whose conversation was reasonably loud, and could still be heard by her. Not paying much attention, she continued typing her text, when she heard Darcy's response.

"I would gladly speak to people I already know, but sadly, there aren't that many of them at this party."

Lizzy rolled her eyes, not surprised in the least. The guy made an impression of someone who was never happy, always complaining. _Those who don't complain are never pitied_ , was her mother's favourite phrase, and Lizzy thought that maybe Darcy fit that description perfectly.

"You do know a few people. Find a pretty girl to dance with," Charles offered with an encouraging smile, gesturing with his hand in which he held his champagne glass.

"Easy for you to say, you've got the prettiest girl around here."

"Well, go talk to Jane's sister. She's very good looking."

Lizzy felt herself blush lightly at his words. It was nice to hear someone say that, even if it was one of the most cheerful people she'd ever met who said it. She did _not_ expect Darcy's response to that strike her as much as it did.

He snorted. "Frankly, she's not that tempting. Her phone case matches her dress, for Christ's sake."

 _Arsehole_ , Lizzy thought, feeling her stomach churn for some reasons, very much affected by his words.

"Darcy," Charles said disapprovingly.

It was Lizzy's turn to snort now. She walked up to the pair and asked Charles with a big smile, "Hey, do you happen to know where Jane went?" She was perfectly capable of finding Jane herself, but having been very unimpressed by Darcy's words, she wanted to see his face when he realised she had heard his words. It was priceless. She saw blush creep up his cheeks while the rest of his face somehow went pale.

Charles' smile was that of pure kindness. "Yes, Lizzy, she's upstairs. Charlotte wasn't feeling well and needed to lie down, so she took her to the spare bedroom."

"Is she alright?" Lizzy's brows knitted in concern.

"I believe she went a little too far with the champagne," Charles said with another genuine smile.

"Oh," Lizzy sighed. "Thank you, I'll go and check on her. Good evening, _Mr Darcy_ ," she added, simply to annoy him.

He responded with a nod, and Lizzy went off to see how Charlotte was doing, mumbling the word "arsehole" from time to time to herself.

 _A/N: I realise this is nothing new, but I always wanted to try my take on this sort of story. Please, review. It's very hard to continue writing a story when there aren't many people reading it. Hope you enjoyed!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Well hello everyone! I couldn't wait to write a new chapter, and wrote half of this last night, right after posting the first one. I'm going to keep this fic as British as possible, which shouldn't be difficult since I'm from England myself, but I do not live in London, so those of you who do and know it like the back of your hand, please forgive me for any inconsistences, should they appear. My fanfics are usually very much dialogue-based, although I do try to bring in more descriptions and thoughts/feels, so tell me what you guys think about that._

 _Some of you expressed concerns about Lizzy's age and her difference with Darcy, and I'd like to say that I completely understand and respect that. Darcy is 28 in the novel, and I stuck to that here, but decided to make Lizzy two years younger than her canonical age. I realise this is very problematic (hell, I'm 19 myself and I wouldn't even consider dating a 29-year-old), but I think that behind all of her bravado and jokes, Elizabeth is a very responsible and mature person, who wouldn't let anyone use her. Besides that, in their relationship, objectively it is Lizzy who calls the shots, so that there couldn't be any predatory thing going on – Lizzy's the one who has the power in their couple. I hope that lessens your concerns, if not – let me know._

 _To my anonymous reviewers, who I couldn't get to, thank you so much for your support, lovelies! Also, thank you for all the follows/favourites/etc. Every one of you made me smile, so thank you._

 _Sorry for the long introduction. Shutting up._

* * *

Jane pushed Lizzy's coat off her shoulders for the third time in the last two minutes. "I _still_ think you should stay for the night."

"And I think I shouldn't," she put her coat back on. The party was over, the guests had already left, and the only ones who stayed were the Bingleys clan, Darcy and herself. Louisa and her husband had retreated to one of the guest bedrooms, while Charles, Caroline and Darcy witnessed the argument between the Bennet sisters. Charles was amused, Darcy – indifferent, and Caroline was annoyed. "I'm an adult, perfectly capable of getting to my hall on my own."

"It's past midnight, Lizzy," reasoned Jane, "and you're only 18. Stop talking like you're 40, and you can actually take care of yourself."

"So what if it's late? Wouldn't be the first time."

Caroline snorted, and Lizzy gave her a dirty look. In another attempt to push Lizzy's coat off her shoulders, Jane managed to grasp her phone out of her front pocket.

"Well then, I'm confiscating your phone," she threatened, waving it in the air, taking a step back when Lizzy tried to yank it out of her hand. "What a _nice_ phone case." Lizzy noticed Darcy roll his eyes at that remark.

"That's… ruthless, Jane. You know I can't live without my phone. I panic when it's out of my sight for longer than a minute," Lizzy said, a pleading expression on her face. "I won't even be able to go on Instagram before bed!"

"Didn't realise you had such an addiction to social networks, Miss Bennet," suddenly said Darcy.

"Clearly," echoed Caroline.

"Sorry, grandpa," Lizzy squinted at Darcy specifically. She didn't blame Caroline for that particular comment, the woman obviously had a soft spot for Darcy and would agree with anything he said. "Maybe you should try it too, when you're not too busy with your primary occupations." She was rewarded with a scowl from him.

"Lizzy!" Jane scolded, astonished by her sister's rudeness. Maybe she was only surprised because Lizzy hadn't gotten around telling her about an earlier incident and Mr Darcy's charming remarks as to her appearance.

" _What_?" she said, and then sighed. "Fine, I'll go without my phone, you won't stop me anyway," she turned around to make her way towards the lift.

"Lizzy, it's dangerous, you could get stabbed in the street!" Jane pleaded.

"I'll be fine."

"Everyone else is staying," Jane frowned and gave her sister a pointed look. Then she crossed her arms defiantly. "If you go right now, I'll tell mum about your nights out."

Lizzy opened her mouth in shock. Their mother was… _conservative_ , if one were to put it nicely. She believed strongly that a woman was supposed to be occupied with search a husband, and clubs were no place suitable to find anyone worthy, besides being a dangerous place to go to in the first place. If she found out about Lizzy's few clubbing nights, she would have a heart attack, and Lizzy would be grounded forever. "I told you those things in secret!" Jane merely shrugged in response and waved Lizzy's phone in the air again. "You're playing dirty, Jane. This is unfair."

"Seriously, Lizzy, stay," interrupted Charles, only now having decided to contribute to the conversation. "Otherwise we'll all be worried."

"I don't want to impose," objected she, very politely, because that's the only sort of treatment Charles deserved.

"It's no imposition, really," he assured her.

Lizzy sighed in defeat. "Fine," taking off her coat, she looked at Jane, "but you're letting me borrow that new Too Faced palette in the morning."

Jane giggled and squeezed Lizzy in an embrace. Caroline rolled her eyes at that condition, and Lizzy frowned when Jane let her go. "What? I'm a poor student, I can't afford to spend fifty quid on an eye palette."

"No one's judging, Lizzy. Come on, I'll take you to the spare bedroom."

Lizzy smiled and followed her sister up the stairs.

* * *

By the time Lizzy walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, it was only seven in the morning. Darcy was already there, a mug of tea in his hand, scrolling through some sort of document on an iPad. For a second Lizzy paused, worried about him seeing her in tiny shorts and a tank top that Jane let her borrow to sleep in, but then she remembered that in his opinion she wasn't attractive at all and decided to do it out of spite.

"Coffee?" she asked unceremoniously, placing Jane's massive makeup bag and a mirror on the massive table next to Darcy's tablet.

"Good morning to you too, Elizabeth," he said, without looking up, which for some reason pissed Lizzy off.

"Good morning, Darcy," she said and walked up to the counter, "oh, found the coffee myself. Your help isn't needed."

"No need to call me by my surname," he retorted when she slid into the seat adjacent to him with a mug of coffee in her hand.

She rested her chin on her fist and squinted playfully. "What should I call you, then? Perhaps, Mr Darcy," she shook her head, her hair flying around her shoulders, "or better, _Lord_ Darcy," he was about to say something to that, but she didn't let him. "I know! Your Grace," she said and let out a victorious giggle, unzipping the makeup bag and getting out the foundation with an appropriate brush.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he mumbled. "But simply Will would do. Come to think of it, Darcy is a lot better than Your Grace."

Lizzy snorted at that, but didn't say anything, focused on applying foundation to her face. He looked at her intently for a few moments, and then resumed his reading.

They sat in silence for a while, until they heard footsteps and saw Jane show up in the doorway. Even with no makeup on (obviously, since Lizzy had all of it on the table), in her pyjamas, her hair in a messy bun, she looked radiant. Lizzy didn't know how that was possible.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, opening the fridge to get some milk, and before hearing anyone's response, added: "I'm glad you're enjoying my makeup collection, Lizzy."

"I know, right? I can't wait to graduate and get a proper job so that I can buy a crap ton of makeup that I don't really need but would love to have," Lizzy said, applying concealer underneath her eyes. "You know what surprises me, Jane? That you own all of this," she pointed at the monstrously big makeup bag, "but don't use it that often."

"Never was that obsessed with cosmetics," Jane shrugged, bringing her cup of tea and a bowl of cereal to the table and sitting down across from Lizzy. "Unlike some people."

Darcy stopped reading and raised his eyebrows at that. "Another obsession?" he asked.

"Yeah-yeah," Lizzy nodded indifferently, powdering her face. "I know. I wear too much makeup, spend too much time on my phone, speak too loud, etcetera, etcetera. Believe it or not, I've heard it all before. But pray, do voice your opinion too," she sing-songed, but Darcy looked back to his tablet again, which told her he wasn't going to respond. "What's this problem people have with makeup anyway?"

Jane smiled, "Well, there's the argument about patriarchy pushing women to look how they're _supposed_ to look. And also the thing that women aren't considered professional if they're not wearing proper makeup."

"That may be true," Lizzy nodded, both Darcy and Jane looking at her doing her eyeliner. "But. I think with professionalism it's often about people being used to seeing you with makeup on. Like that one time I showed up to a lecture with no makeup on, and everyone thought it their duty to tell me how 'tired' I looked. But I think makeup is fine, as long as women don't feel like they _have_ to wear it to look presentable."

"But you still want to do it," Darcy said.

"Precisely," she said. "Makeup's a powerful tool, Mr Darcy. The fact that I can control my looks despite what others might say is very liberating. No one's pushing or forcing me, it's completely my choice. And also makeup is just so much fun."

Jane smiled, obviously trying to suppress a giggle, "You know," she said to Darcy, "when Lizzy was about four years old, she kept trying to put chairs on top of each other to get to our mum's hiding spot for her makeup on the highest shelf in the kitchen."

"Why did she hide it?" he asked, confused.

"From me," Lizzy responded and, having looked away from the mirror, she noticed what cereal Jane was eating. She wrinkled her nose. "Ew. _Shreddies_. Can't believe you've become one of _those_ people. I blame you, Darcy."

"Why me?" he frowned, confused, while Jane simply giggled in response.

"Before she got into this posh company of yours, she didn't eat stuff like _Shreddies_."

"And what exactly is wrong with that sort of cereal?" He asked defensively.

"You just answered your own question," Lizzy said, and wiggled her eyebrows, only one of them filled in.

Darcy merely let out a sigh in response to that.

"How did you sleep, Lizzy?" Jane asked, trying to change the topic and ease some tension.

"Terribly."

"Why?"

Lizzy noticed that Darcy was listening to her answer. "You know I don't sleep well in new places."

"And what are your plans for today?" her sister asked, encouraged by having successfully stopped Lizzy's constant attacks on Will.

Lizzy thought it was a nice try and decided to help her along. "Well, I'm going to wait for Charlotte to wake up, and then we'll go back to our hall, and I'll dive straight into homework."

"Do you have a lot?"

"I have a tort tutorial on Monday," Lizzy said.

"So?" Jane asked.

"That means about 200 pages of reading," she explained, and Jane raised her eyebrows, impressed.

"Lord," she said, chewing on her cereal, "remind me to never do law."

"I know, right," Lizzy echoed, and saw a change in Darcy's expression.

"Maybe you shouldn't have procrastinated. Then you wouldn't have to do so much on such a short notice," Will said, and that made Lizzy frown.

"I know some people who do work a week in advance, and I've tried that many times, but it just never works out," she shrugged.

"Why do you do law, Elizabeth, if you find it that unbearable?" he asked, obviously annoyed.

"Never said that."

"Implied it."

"Not really."

"Lizzy wanted to do English," Jane said with a soft smile, once again interrupting their argument. "But our mother wouldn't agree. Said it wasn't a responsible choice, so Lizzy chose the closest thing."

"It's not bad at all, actually," Lizzy said. "I'm enjoying law a lot. Just not the tutorial work."

"And what's the particular topic?" Darcy asked.

"Psychiatric harm," she answered.

"Negligence, I believe?"

"Yes. My favourite so far. But that _Alcock_ case I have to read though, it's huge."

"Look at you two, actually having a nice conversation," said Charles, who had entered the kitchen through another door, and surprised both Darcy and Elizabeth, who weren't facing that way.

"Although, I'm not sure if you're aware of it. Did they even teach it _back in your_ day? It was decided in 1992, after all," Lizzy said, not paying much attention to Charles' entrance.

"How old do you think I am, Miss Bennet?" he asked, leaning towards her, clearly annoyed.

"How would I know, My Lord?" she batted her eyelashes innocently. "I could guess though. Let me think about it," she looked up to the ceiling, her finger on her chin, as if in deep thought, and everyone waited. "52?"

Charles snorted, but Jane gave Lizzy a dirty look. "He's 28, Lizzy," Charles responded instead of his friend and joined them at the table while he waited for his porridge to be ready.

Lizzy widened her eyes, mockingly shocked. "I would never be able to tell."

Jane, tired of reprimanding her sister and seeing Darcy simply return his attention to his reading, his lips pursed together, simply shook her head, and Charles chuckled.

"They've been at it for the last half hour, maybe if we ignore their arguments, they'll stop," Jane voiced her thoughts to Charlie.

"I doubt it," Lizzy smirked in response. " _Jane_ ," she wailed suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to herself. "Why are you so pale? I look like a flipping ghost with this foundation on! I'll have to put a crap ton of bronzer on to look at least a little bit alive," she said, rubbing bronzer into her cheeks in mock frustration.

"At least I don't have a problem with finding the right shade," Jane shrugged a shoulder, "just go for the lightest one available."

That got a laugh out of Lizzy, and a snort out of Darcy. Lizzy turned to look at him, having finished with the bronzer. She couldn't just let him remain amused, although she couldn't really understand what in particular she was vindicating. That one incident with him insulting her had surely been paid off by now. But the fact that Darcy was barely responding to her nasty remarks (probably aware of his previous wrongdoing and now letting her talk it out) really annoyed her. So she wouldn't let it go.

"Mr Darcy?" he looked at her. "Did you know that Jane and Charles met because of me?"

Charles looked away from Jane for a second, to say, "That's true, Will."

"What happened?" Will asked, looking at Elizabeth, but before she could say anything, Jane stepped in, sensing some biting phrases coming up.

"We met at a hospital where Lizzy was put when she fell off her bike and hit her head on a rock," she explained simply.

"You cycled through London?" asked Caroline with a disgusted frown, having appeared in the same way Charles did a few minutes earlier. "Why on earth why you do that?" Charles gave her a disapproving look at that.

"Because that's what people do sometimes, when they want to save money and also exercise a little," she paused, starting on her mascara. "Anyway, I was put in the hospital where Charles works."

"We met in Costa at the hospital," Charles said, and he and Jane looked at each other with sickly sweet expressions. "You looked very worried, but always beautiful."

"I remember," Jane nodded. "You were just after your shift, and I didn't realise you were a doctor at first, because you were smiling and looked very friendly. Doctors aren't like that, not usually," that got a chuckle out of Charles.

Lizzy smiled, looking at them. Looked like Jane had finally found someone who was as crazy for her as she was for him.

"Why weren't you wearing a helmet?" suddenly asked Darcy. "Surely, if you had fallen with a helmet on, nothing serious would have happened." He was frowning, as per usual.

"I don't need helmet!" Lizzy exclaimed, offended. "I'm a very good cyclist."

"Obviously not, since you fell," he retorted.

"It was _not_ my fault," she explained. "The handlebar was screwed on in a wrong way, for some reason, so that the bike kept swinging sideways."

"That's true," Jane confirmed and finished off her tea.

Lizzy didn't contribute to the conversation much after that. Caroline drew all the attention to herself by pestering Darcy with random questions he obviously didn't wish to answer. Jane and Charles kept talking to each other, quietly but sweetly, and Lizzy noticed them holding hands, which got a big smile out of her. For some reasons, Lizzy couldn't stop thinking about Darcy. It wasn't in her habit to hold grudges, but there was something about him and his comments that made his last night's words ever more insulting. She knew she wasn't and never would be as beautiful as Jane was, but she had often been told to be quite pretty, and therefore understood that she shouldn't be worried about Darcy's opinion at all. After all, you can't be liked by everyone, unless you're Jane. But the saddest thing was that she _wanted_ him to like her. However, since he didn't, she decided it perfectly fine to dislike him back. There wasn't much nice about him anyway. Now she just hoped that after years of practicing law, she wouldn't become as grumpy and sullen as Darcy.

* * *

"He said _what_?" Charlotte asked and winced at her own loud exclamation, obviously suffering from a headache.

"My phone case matches my dress," re-affirmed Lizzy. "Since when is that a bad thing, anyway?" She asked, genuinely confused.

They stood at the bus stop, waiting to get home. Lizzy wasn't looking forward to it too much, mainly because of that ton of work she had to do.

"Maybe he thinks you're shallow."

"Arsehole," Lizzy said again and crossed her arms stubbornly.

Charlotte smiled at her, "He can say that now, mainly because he doesn't know that you're the most idealistic feminist and hater of discrimination."

"But why does he think he can just make comments like that, especially about people he knows nothing about? Who does he think he is?"

Charlotte looked at Lizzy intently, squinting slightly.

"What?"

"You like him," she declared, suddenly.

"Pardon?" Lizzy gaped.

"You like the guy," Charlotte shrugged.

"He's 28 years old!"

"So? You've always seemed like the sort to date someone older than you. Besides, it's only ten years' difference, not that much."

"That's a _massive_ difference. And I do admit that he might be hot. But that's probably the only good thing about him," Charlotte shook her head with a smile in response to that. "Besides, the man's an arrogant and rude… person," she added, not wanting to swear anymore (for now). "And I've never liked anyone just like _that_ ," she snapped her fingers. "I need to get to know the person to be able to like them," Lizzy said, perfectly happy with her reasoning.

"There's a first time for everything. And I'm not saying you're head over heels, but you do feel something, and that's why his comment made you so self-conscious that you can't stop talking about it now."

Lizzy huffed, annoyed. "Let's just drop the subject before I go mad."

Charlotte lifted her hands, establishing peace. Their bus came, and the girls climbed to the upper deck. Lizzy was tired already, and her weekend had just started.

* * *

 _Please, review and tell me what you think!_

 _Yours,  
_ _Kat_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: _And I'm back :) This chapter is longer than the previous ones, so I hope that's good news. For Bennets' hometown I decided to go with Canterbury in Kent, not a place in Hertfordshire, mainly because the latter is a little too close to London, which wouldn't work for me in this plot. A reader also kindly let me know through PM that Mrs Hurst's name is actually Louisa, which I for some reason completely forgot. Everything's fixed now, so that should be fine._

 _A massive thank to all those who reviewed, especially to my anonymous reviewers who I can't respond to. Thank you so much._

 _I hope you enjoy!_

Lizzy mumbled something incoherent as she went through her accessories drawer, trying to find her sunglasses. She had a throbbing headache that even two ibuprofen pills didn't cure. Charlotte slammed the door open, and Lizzy jumped in her spot with surprise.

"What the hell, Charlotte?" she muttered, having found the sunglasses and immediately putting them on.

"Thought you haven't woken up yet and decided to help," she shrugged, sipping coffee from her mug. But then Lizzy noticed that she held two.

"Thank God," she said, taking the coffee and immediately starting to drink it, the hot liquid burning her throat.

"More like thank me. You won't be late for your train?"

"It's a ten-minute bus ride, Charlotte. I'll be fine," Lizzy said, putting the last of her clothes in the bag, and zipping it up. She then found her coat and put it on, simultaneously sipping her coffee.

"Why aren't you going to Canterbury with Jane then?"

"Because she and Charles drove down last night, and I had yet another tutorial, so I said I'd come on my own today," Lizzy explained. "And it's fine. Mum's paying me back for the train ticket anyway," she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Yeah, it's good when your parents are rich, huh?"

"That means I get smaller maintenance loans, remember," she clicked her fingers and then put her glasses back on. "The problem is that wearing a coat and sunglasses at the same time makes me look like a complete twat," she complained.

Charlotte chuckled, "True. Why are wearing them?" and she followed her friend to the door, where Lizzy started to put her shoes on.

"Because I don't want to scare people on the train with the dark circles under my eyes," she said, pausing with one boot in her hand and once again looking into the mirror by the front door. "Jesus. I look like a ghost. It's all your fault, you know?" she said, standing up after having zipped up her boots. "If you hadn't taken me to that club, I wouldn't be feeling like a sad arse right now."

"I know," Charlotte said, mockingly-shameful. "No one forced you to drink that extra jagerbomb, though. What will your parents say?"

"They'll think I'm tired because of all the homework. And I'll try to hide some damage with concealer on the way there. Anyway, I have to go."

"Got the presents for the twins?" Charlotte asked.

"Check."

It was Lydia and Kitty's sixteenth birthday, and the weekend was promising to be… _challenging_.

"Your train ticket?"

"In my purse," Lizzy said, waving her hand dismissively, opening the front door.

"And your purse?" Charlotte asked in a suspiciously laughing voice. Lizzy turned around, only to see her friend holding it out for her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, putting the purse in her handbag, not even having enough strength in her to feel embarrassed. She hugged Charlotte. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck. Have fun at home."

"I'll try," Lizzy sighed and was off.

* * *

Frankly, Lizzy never wanted to live in London. There was something about the big city that gave her a headache. Yes, it had always been fun to come for a day to shop at Oxford street, or go on tour of Thames, but the constant buzz of London was hard to get used to. Which is why UCL was never her first choice. She wanted to go to Durham – they had a great law school, and it was six hours away from home, but once her mother found out about that option, she threw a fit, saying things like "You'll just go and never even come to visit, I know what's going to happen, Lizzy!" and, "You simply don't care about your family, do you?" So Elizabeth chose London instead. It was far enough so that her mother wouldn't force her to commute (which also eliminated frequent weekend visits), but the university she got into was actually good. Ranked third after Cambridge and Nottingham, UCL was a very competitive place to be at. So Lizzy was happy.

She did like coming home, though, just as long as it didn't happen too often. She spent four weeks at home during Christmas break, and it even felt too short, but she also rejoiced in returning to university because there she had freedom.

Elizabeth thought she would like to live in Kent after university. It always surprised her how much changed when one travelled 60 miles up north. People in London were different to those she was used to in Kent – never as polite, mannered and _posh_ (there wasn't really any other word for it). Kent was special to her, and she always considered it home. It was always nice to come back.

She put some makeup on while she was on the train, then read a chapter on contract law, and then played the new flappy bird on her iPhone. After that, her journey ended, and at the train station she was greeted by Jane and Charles, who had volunteered to pick her up. She embraced her sister, not having seen her since the infamous party two weeks ago, and then also gave Charles a friendly hug.

After that, she took off her sunglasses, which earned a surprised expression from Jane and an understanding smile from Charles.

"Honey, you look dead," Jane said.

"Thanks," Lizzy mumbled. "Do you think mum will notice?"

"She'll probably blame it on all the pressure and stress. Don't worry."

"Brilliant. I might take a power nap later," she said, shrugging. "So you two are all the welcoming party I get?" Lizzy joked, as she sat in the back seat of Charles' car.

Jane smiled. "Everyone's busy. Mary has her physics mock exam on Tuesday, so she's locked herself up in her room at 8 in the morning, revising."

Lizzy chuckled at that. Mary was the smartest of all sisters and, having gotten thirteen A*'s in her GCSEs, was now in her first year of A Levels. She wanted to do engineering at uni, so her main focus was on physics and maths. She always worried, also studied a lot, and always got amazingly high grades. Lizzy respected that. Her sister had a dream she had the courage to follow.

"And the twins?"

"Lydia was running around the house, screaming that she doesn't have the right dress for the party tonight, until mum agreed to take her on an express shopping trip. Kitty had gone to the salon to get her hair done. She wants to dye it darker," Jane explained.

"Sounds fun. How have you been, Charles?" Lizzy remembered her manners.

"I'm very good, thank you. Caroline caught a cold last week, so she couldn't come this weekend, but she said she didn't mind if I went," he told her cheerfully.

"That's nice of her," Lizzy admitted, no hint of sarcasm. "Any other news?"

"Darcy's here," Charles said. "Took me and Jane _ages_ to convince him to come."

" _Darcy_?" exclaimed Lizzy, too dumbfounded to appear polite. "Why on earth?"

"Lizzy!" reprimanded Jane, turning around from her front seat to look at her sister. She knew reasons as to Lizzy's reaction though, she had been filled in on the charming comment Darcy had made the night they met. "He wasn't doing anything this weekend, and it would've been rude not to invite him with us. Charlie agreed," Charles nodded to that, pursing his lips in a blindingly obvious attempt to conceal an amused smile. The whole dynamic between Elizabeth and Will intrigued him, he had never seen Darcy so interested yet annoyed with anyone before. Despite all appearances, Charles could tell that Darcy was smitten with Lizzy.

"Well, isn't this weekend going to be fun?" Lizzy muttered, but not quietly enough, which meant that both Jane and Charles heard her words, and while Charles simply smiled at that, Jane sighed heavily.

They soon drove up to the Bennets' house, and Charles didn't let Lizzy get her own travel bag and, as always demonstrating his perfect manners, took it upstairs himself.

Upon her entrance to the house, she was immediately greeted by her father. "Lizzy," Mr Bennet said, opening his arms for an embrace. Lizzy loved her father dearly, and cherished their easy but also deep relationship. It was never difficult for them to understand each other, mainly because they were so similar in character. "Rough night?" he smirked with understanding, noticing the state of exhaustion on her face.

"Good to see you too, Daddy," she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Is no one else here? Mum and Lydia still shopping?"

"No one but that pompous aristocrat himself. He's been hiding in the library all morning," Lizzy shared a knowing smile with her dad and rolled her eyes in respect to Darcy's presence in their house. "Mary's in her room."

"I think I'll go say hi to her."

"Tell her to stop working so hard, or she'll never get a boyfriend."

"I believe that's mother's line," Lizzy retorted, waving her father off, who merely smirked and walked off in the direction of his study.

* * *

For this party, Kitty was the planner, and it seemed to be a success so far. It wasn't a posh champagne and waltz sort of party, there was a mix of music that most people could relate to and actually dance comfortably, without having to know how to quick step. But it wasn't a teenager party with beer and pizza either. There was a mix of class and ease. Unsurprisingly, a lot of Selena Gomez's songs played (the twins' consistent star crush), but Lizzy wasn't complaining about that. There were a lot of people, which meant that there was a chance to find someone, a conversation with whom would be enjoyable. There were Lydia and Kitty's friends from school, but also some people whom Lizzy and Jane knew, including neighbours and family friends.

After a while, Lizzy noticed her mother talking to her favourite aunt and uncle – the Gardiners – and decided to come up and say hi. However, as she came closer, she heard what Mrs Bennet was saying: "…and Lizzy's been so tired with all her law homework that she hardly looks alive anymore, so it scares me that Mary spends so much time revising, especially when these are only mocks. I'm afraid she'll never be able to find a husband with that brain of hers."

"There's nothing wrong with being a smart girl, mother," Lizzy interrupted, slightly irritated, despite knowing full well that her words are not going to change her mother's mind. "And I'm proud of Mary, I won't be surprised if she turns out to be the most successful of us all."

"Nonsense, Lizzy," Mrs Bennet waved her off. "Just look at Lydia – the girl's so talented, she's bound to be a star one day."

It was Lydia's dream to become a famous singer, and truth be told, she did have almost a hundred thousands of followers on her YouTube channel, where she uploaded covers of well-known songs.

"The point is that everyone should do what they enjoy and what they're good at. Being an engineer is a dream as great as that of being a singer," Lizzy said firmly, while Jane poked her in the ribs slightly, trying to cut down the argument. "There aren't nearly enough women engineers, anyway. Mary would be a great one."

"Besides," suddenly interjected Darcy, his hands in his pockets. "Intelligence is attractive."

That ended the topic because Mrs Bennet frowned, but didn't gather the courage to argue with him (Darcy _was_ rich after all, and she thought it best not to have arguments with those richer than her), while Elizabeth remained suspicious. Why was he suddenly agreeing with what she said? Was he trying to suck up to her? And if not, what sort of insult was hidden behind that remark? It must've been that he didn't consider _her_ attractive, despite or regardless of her intelligence. He had implied it before. Lizzy felt anger rise somewhere in her chest, but tried to suppress it to avoid saying something that would result in disappointed looks from Jane and reprimands from her mother.

Just as she was thinking about that, Charles showed up and hugged Jane's waist tentatively. "You look beautiful, sweetheart," he said to her, and Jane blushed beautifully, to which everyone around smiled. Apart from Darcy. His expression remained sour, and an extra scowl served as an addition. Then, while Mrs Bennet continued talking to Gardiners, complaining about something her daughter said or did, Charles turned towards Elizabeth. "And look at you, Lizzy," he said, gesturing at her. "You look great. Wouldn't you agree, Darcy?" Darcy only looked to the floor in response to that. What an _arsehole_.

Despite the fact that Charles probably complimented her so that she wouldn't feel left out, it was nice. "Thank you," she said. "My dress not matching my phone case this time," she couldn't help herself, and her words were followed by another poke to her ribs from Jane. Lizzy did like how she looked tonight; with the black dress she got from boohoo a few weeks ago that was a little too low cut compared to what she was used to. That, combined with the fact that it was also considerably short, she was worried it would be too much, but Charles wasn't the first to tell her she looked good tonight, so by now she'd calmed down and decided to own it. There was nothing wrong with showing a little flesh; she didn't exercise consistently for nothing, did she?

She didn't get a chance to see Darcy's reaction to her words because the twins ran up to her, exclaiming her name excitedly. She turned around and saw them both, beautiful as always, their eyes sparkling with joy. They did love a good party.

"Happy Birthday, sweeties!" she said, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek.

"Looking smokin'," in a poor attempt at American accent told her Lydia, and Lizzy rolled her eyes at that compliment, a smile never leaving her face though.

"Great planning skills, Kitty," she told her sister. "I completely approve of this party."

"Thank you, Lizzy."

Lydia was about to make a funny comment, but Selena's _Same Old Love_ started to play, and her eyes widened with excitement: "Oh my God, I _love_ this song. Let's go dance."

Lizzy didn't get a chance to respond because she was immediately whisked away by Lydia (who was led by Kitty), so Lizzy grabbed onto Jane's hand, and so they all appeared at the dance floor.

Lizzy had been often told she was good at dancing, club style. She couldn't understand how, since all she was doing was listening to music and moving with the rhythm. She did like this song though, so she danced. Her dress had quite a wide lush skirt, so it didn't restrict any movements, and Lizzy found she was enjoying herself a lot. Jane seemed shy at first, but after a few moments she relaxed. The twins were ecstatic – they loved getting attention, especially with the way they danced, constantly singing to the lyrics: " _I'm so sick of that same old love…_ "

After a while, Lizzy noticed that Darcy, still standing in the same spot, just in Charles's company now, was looking at her. Quite consistently, actually. However, when he saw her notice, he would turn away and say something to Charles. For a second, that dampened Lizzy's spirits. The bugger was probably telling Charles how plain-looking she was and not tempting at all, and probably even criticising her dancing skills. For a few moments she was annoyed at him, but also annoyed at herself because to think of what he _might_ be thinking was actually ridiculous and kind of paranoid. So, she tried to forget about it and concentrate on the music.

Jane left after the song ended, obviously needing to say hi to everyone she knew in fear of being impolite, but Elizabeth remained. A few songs later, a little sweaty and out of breath, Lizzy noticed Mary talking to Jane, Charles and Darcy. Lizzy knew Mary didn't usually dance, but it was always clear to her that she didn't do it because she was shy, not because she didn't want to. So Lizzy came up and grabbed her sister's hand before pulling her towards the dance floor.

"No, Lizzy!" she tried to protest; Jane, Charles and Darcy watching them.

"You look beautiful," Lizzy told her, "come dance with me."

Truth be told, Lizzy missed Mary. Her sister shared virtually no interests with the twins, and with Lizzy and Jane gone to London, she was practically left alone at home. Lizzy wanted to spend as much time with her as she could.

"The twins will tease me," she said in a final attempt to resist Lizzy's insistence.

"The twins can bugger off," Lizzy said, shrugging in response to Jane's astonished face. Charles was smiling – as always – and Darcy was looking with interest, even forgetting to frown. Lizzy gave Mary's shoulders a one-armed hug and planted a kiss on her cheek, "Please!"

"Ew, you're sweaty," her sister said, and the smile that appeared on her face told Lizzy that she'd won her battle.

"In a minute you'll be too."

* * *

"Is that water?" Lizzy said, pointing at the glass Jane was holding and, before her sister could respond, she took it and downed it.

"Lizzy!" Jane exclaimed, but with a big smile.

"What?" she said, raising her eyebrows in an innocent expression. "I've danced for a half hour; I was _dying_ of thirst. I don't know how the twins still have any energy." But then she noticed the both Kitty and Lydia were each wrapped around a guy, and then nodded, _that's how_.

Charles chuckled at Lizzy as she breathed heavily and wiped sweat off her forehead. "I take it you're having a good time," he concluded.

"The time of my life," she said, smiling and, having nodded in Darcy's direction, "Might as well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively.

"Well, you stood here all evening, just looking at people having fun. You never even asked anyone to dance with you or joined us. What's the point of that?"

"I'd say people often differ in their understanding of 'fun'," he said downing some of the drink he was holding in his hand.

When a slow song started, Charles immediately offered his arm to Jane. Before they left though, he said, "You could invite Lizzy," and smiled at Darcy.

To save Darcy the embarrassment of having to come up with an excuse, Lizzy shook her head. "I'm very tired, I don't think I'll be dancing right now. But you two have fun."

And then, she was left alone with Will. It was awkward, to say the least. Apart from her constant jokes and discussions with others they'd never had a real conversation. And, truth be told, she didn't even know what to talk to him about. He was always so quiet. Always looking at her with that intense gaze that made her think he was finding more things he didn't like about her.

"So," she said finally, unable to bear the silence anymore, "are you having fun?"

Darcy seemed hesitant between telling the truth and being polite. "You could say so."

"How have you been since that party at Charles's?" she asked, initiating some sort of dialogue once more.

"I've been good. What about you?"

"Yeah, all good."

She wanted to slap herself on the face because she's never had a conversation more awkward than this one. The buzzing of her phone served as a rescue, and she picked up immediately: "Hello?"

"Elizabeth?" she heard a voice of a woman, unfamiliar one for that.

"Yes," Lizzy said, checking the caller ID, which was an unrecognised number. "Who is this?"

"Um…" the woman hesitated, "I'm a bartender at "The King's Head", and your friend here has had one too many."

"What friend?" Lizzy frowned in confusion.

"He says his name is James. And he asked me to call you, said you would pick him up."

"Right," she said, far from surprised, but her frown deepening, now in annoyance. "I'll be there soon. Look after him for now, okay?"

The bartender promised to do so, and Lizzy hung up. Jane, having appeared with her arm around Charles's during the last moments of her conversation, asked in concern: "What's wrong?"

Lizzy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to concentrate. "James is at a bar, shitfaced, and he told the bartender to call me."

Jane's expression softened with understanding. "Are you going to go?"

"Well, I'll have to, or else who knows what'll happen to him," she said, pushing hair strands away from face. "The problem is, I can't drive. And pretty much everyone around here has had a drink or two."

"Darcy will take you," Charles offered. "He hasn't had a drop of alcohol."

Lizzy was about to decline, but then decided to swallow her pride because James needed to be taken care of, and she couldn't do that without a car. It was about a twenty-minute walk to the pub, and there was no way she would drag James all the way back to his house on foot.

"You won't mind?" she looked at Will sheepishly, praying he wouldn't act as a bastard and help her out.

"No, that's fine. I'll take you."

"Thank you," she said, never having felt warmer feelings for him, "I'll get my coat. Get yours, and we'll meet outside in a minute, okay?"

Lizzy walked off without waiting for his response. Soon, she and Darcy were sitting in his Audi, Lizzy explaining him (with the help of google maps) how to get to the pub. He didn't ask any questions, and in a way she was grateful for that. When they arrived at the pub, he followed her inside, where they found James at the bar stand, his face on the wooden surface, still holding a shot glass in his hand.

A red haired waitress gave her a smile, "You must be Lizzy. The guy wouldn't stop talking about you."

"Yep," Lizzy said, "been there before. Can you help me lead him out?" she said the last sentence to Darcy.

Together, they took James outside and shoved him into the car. Lizzy sat with him, putting his head in her lap to make sure he was alright. He must have been, because once he saw her face above his, he whined, "Lizzy. My lovely, beautiful Lizzy," and puckered his lips as if to kiss her.

"As if, James," was her only response.

"Why did you leave me?" he mumbled with difficulty, lisping in a horrible way, and Lizzy just wished he would shut up so that Darcy wouldn't hear anything he could judge her for. "I thought— I— we loved each other," he said, stumbling over his own words.

"We'll talk later, okay?" Lizzy offered a compromise, although she didn't really owe him any sort of conversation. Everything between them had been decided ages ago.

With Lizzy's directions, Will drove to James's house, and once again, in a collective effort, they dragged him towards the door. It was dark inside – understandably, it was almost midnight – so Lizzy looked through James's pockets and, having found a set of keys, opened the front door.

The noise they made must have woken up Maureen – James's sister – who stumbled into the corridor, her hair dishevelled from sleep. "Lizzy?" she asked, no surprise in her voice as she looked over her brother and then opened the door to his bedroom so that Darcy and Lizzy could get him in.

"Yeah, the one and only. This is Will," she said rather randomly – the situation was the sort where one would be expected to fulfil social expectations – once James was on his bed. "Called me to pick him up. Next time, could you do the honours of looking after your brother?"

"Sorry," Maureen mumbled, wrapping herself into the fluffy dressing gown she was wearing. "I didn't even know he went out. If I'd known that you were in town—"

"Could've been easily predicted, right?" Lizzy said with sarcasm, Darcy hovering next to her. "Look after him, okay? We'll go back. And tell him to call me when he wakes up and recovers from this… slumber."

"Sure," the girl said, walking them both to the front door. "Thanks for bringing him back. It was nice to see you. Although I do wish it was under different circumstances."

Lizzy nodded with a sad smile. "Me too. Sleep tight."

In the car, it was all awkward silences again. Darcy just drove and looked straight onto the road, and Elizabeth looked out of the window for a while. By the time she got her hopes up that maybe he wouldn't care enough to ask her personal questions, he decided to speak.

"Ex-boyfriend?" he said, observant (or maybe not really).

Lizzy sighed. "Yeah," she paused, hesitant. "He gets drunk every time I'm in town. And then I'm the one who has to pick him up."

Darcy snorted, which for some reason strongly irritated Elizabeth. "The guy must really love you."

Lizzy looked down as she fiddled with her hands. "He seems to."

She didn't want to elaborate, but when Will asked, "Why didn't it work out?", she sighed once again. She didn't want to lie to him – she hated lying, and there must be something good about him. He did agree to drive her hell knows where in the middle of the night to pick up someone he's never even met before and doesn't care for. So Lizzy decided to tell the truth.

"We did date for a while. But it was toxic," she paused, looking at the contour of his face in the dark. He seemed calm, patient even. He was listening to her with attention. "He was… possessive. Said I wasn't allowed to wear certain things, didn't like me wearing makeup. He drank profusely, and I constantly had to retrieve him from the bars and pubs all around Canterbury. At some point I just couldn't bear it anymore and broke everything off."

There were a few moments of silence, followed by a question from Darcy. "And yet, you still pick him up from pubs?"

There was something unusual in the way he said it, like he wanted it to be a joke they could share. If they did, it would be the first one that wasn't directed at either of them, but rather something for them both. She appreciated his attempt and smiled. "Yes, sometimes it feels like we've never separated at all."

After that, silence was a lot easier to bear. She didn't feel half as threatened by his recurring stares as she did before.

A/N: _Thank you for reading, and tell me what you guys think. Please comment, those make my day._

 _Yours, etc._


	4. Chapter 4

**I do realise that there's no apology in the world that would excuse me for not updating for 5 months (!), but I'm still going to say sorry. Last summer I found it very hard to write anything at all; it seems to me that I write best when I have other things to do - like prepare for two seminars I have next week...**

 **Still not sure about this chapter, but I'm posting it anyway. Tell me what you think.**

* * *

Lizzy wanted her life to be like a classic Hollywood movie. She wanted Cary Grant to do a tumbling trick with her just to cheer her up. She wanted to solve a murder mystery with James Stewart. She wanted to have hours' long telephone conversations with Rock Hudson. She wanted Robert Mitchum to save her from a log raft on the River of No Return. She also wanted to perform on the stage, wearing a beautiful dress and diamonds, as her lover watched her with admiration.

She wanted romance. Instead of all that, she got an ex who constantly got her in trouble and just wouldn't leave her alone. And then there was Darcy who made it crystal clear that to him she wasn't attractive even in the slightest. Lizzy didn't know what upset her more, the fact that he said that or that she even cared what he thought. She didn't tend to worry about what other people's impressions of her were. As long as they weren't plain rude to her about those things, they could think of her whatever she pleased. But Darcy… she disliked him with all her soul, but for some reason wanted him to like her. So that if he ever made a move, she would say no and then he'd be the one who felt rejected.

She didn't bother sharing those thoughts with anyone, even Jane, mainly because she already knew what her sister would say. Something about it being childish and ridiculous, and that Lizzy shouldn't have been eavesdropping on a private conversation between Darcy and Charlie anyway. And, Lizzy had to admit, she wouldn't be wrong. It's just that sometimes Lizzy had hard time taming her petty soul.

Sunday morning, Lizzy woke up in a good mood and decided to return to her workouts that she never skipped unless she was ill or hungover. Half an hour later, she came into the kitchen, very sweaty and breathing heavily, a little tired, but in a pleasant way. It was barely eight in the morning, and the whole house was still asleep – unsurprisingly, after last night's party – so the last thing Lizzy expected was to see Darcy already there. He looked sharp and cleaned up, as always, wearing his usual buttoned shirt and dark trousers. He looked good, as he tended to.

Lizzy, on the other hand, was wearing her old sports bra and shorts, looking very sweaty and not presentable at all. But she really needed to eat something, so she just entered the kitchen, her head high.

She put her phone on the counter and got out a bowl for cereal.

"Didn't know you were a morning person," she told Darcy, after having greeted him.

"Didn't know that about you either," he retorted.

"Can't sleep after seven in the morning," Lizzy explained. "My body just wakes up. Maybe it's all those years of dance practices on weekends that never really let me learn how to sleep in."

Darcy looked at her with that intense gaze of his. "It's the same for me," and then corrected himself, after noticing her lifted eyebrow. "Not with dance practices though. I just wasn't allowed to sleep in when I was a child."

"Strict parents?"

"You have no idea."

Lizzy opened one of the drawers and smiled. "Aw, Mary stocked up on my favourite cereal."

"Reese's Puffs?" Darcy asked, his hand with a mug in it pausing mid-air. "It's pure sugar."

"Exactly."

She got a carton of almond milk out of the fridge and a spoon out of a drawer.

"Didn't know you worked out," Darcy suddenly said, his eyes purposefully avoiding hers, as if he was embarrassed of having noticed what she was wearing.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Mr Darcy."

He made no comment on her returning to her mockingly-formal attitude. "What exercises in particular?"

Lizzy shrugged. "Depends. Usually I run, but it's raining today so I just skipped rope. I like exercise."

"Makes sense."

It struck Lizzy that for the first time ever she and Darcy were having an actual conversation. Without other people present to push them together or any particular need to engage in any sort of discussion. They were talking, like normal human beings. Wow. She had no idea that something like that could happen to her in Darcy's presence. It felt weird, but nice. Lizzy never like disliking people, so maybe one day she and Darcy will be able to consider themselves friends.

Lizzy was about to ask him what he meant by his last sentence, but her phone started to ring. She saw that it was James. Having thought for a second to leave the kitchen, she decided against it. Darcy's presence may help her get this done quickly and efficiently.

"Hello?"

Will looked up at her and gestured, asking whether she wanted him to give her privacy. Lizzy shook her head no.

"Hey, Lizzy," she heard James's voice, slightly groggy and very raspy.

"You're up early, time traveller," she commented, popping one Reese's puffs into her mouth and noticing Darcy watch her with close attention.

"What— Why time traveller?" James asked, still slow after obviously having woken up just recently and _probably_ suffering from severe headache.

Lizzy leaned on the counter, but then realised that way she was demonstrating her cleavage to Darcy, and quickly straightened up, embarrassed. Trying not to blush, she stuck with keeping the conversation going. "Because it's been almost a year since we've broken up, and you act just like you did when we were together. Seriously James, it's not my job to save you every time you decide to test your alcohol limits."

"Lizzy, I— It's hard for me," he said.

For a second, she felt a pang of sorrow for him, but then reminded herself that this was just something he always did. Screw up, then put on his sad face and make her forgive him or feel like a complete bitch if she didn't. He was doing this to himself, it wasn't her fault.

"Well," Lizzy's eyes met Darcy's. He was still listening to the conversation, and not even hiding it. "That breakup was hard on both of us," she said in a discouraged tone, thinking of those moments when she cried her last tears into her pillow or stared at her razor in the shower, talking herself out of things she could use it for. "But that doesn't mean you get to intrude in my life like this. You're making things hard for both of us. I'm sorry James, but you have to let me go."

"I'm sorry, Lizzy," he said, without adding anything else to that. And honestly, she appreciated the brevity.

"Me too. Goodbye." She hung up, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. Talking to him was always hard. Lizzy didn't have any feelings left for him anymore – she's pretty sure they were gone while she was still in that terrible relationship – but she felt guilty. She knew it was strange and completely out of place, but she always felt guilty when she found out he still hasn't straightened his life out. She now realised why she had decided to have this conversation in front of someone she doesn't even know that well. Lizzy was afraid that if she had been alone, she would've been weak and let him guilt trip her into believing she owed him something.

"Are you alright?" she heard Will's voice and to her embarrassment realise she was just standing in the same spot, holding onto her phone, her eyes closed.

Lizzy nodded and pushed out a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." She finally poured milk into her cereal and took a seat at a high chair that was closest to her, so that it wouldn't seem like she chose a seat in accordance with where he sat – too close or too far. Now she was right across from him, and facing him was a little awkward, to say the least. A couple of times he looked at her as if he wanted to say something, but always decided against it and stared back into his phone, typing some message.

He didn't pressure her to say anything else, and she was grateful. They might've had a conversation, but that didn't make them friends. Still, something in her attitude towards him shifted. Darcy wasn't a robot, but a human. He had feelings, and he was interested in hers, or at least was polite enough to make it seem like he did.

Halfway through her breakfast, with the silence having lasted for so long she felt like she was about to do mad, Lizzy noticed that Darcy had been typing for a while now.

"Brevity is the soul of wit," she said, and he looked up, a little lost. Lizzy pointed her spoon in the direction of his phone. "Are you writing an ode or something?"

"Oh," he said, his gaze flicking between her face and his phone. "I was just emailing my sister. She likes to know about everything that happens to me."

Lizzy smiled, despite herself. The guy really was a human. "I didn't know you had a sister. What's she like?"

He sighed, and for a second Lizzy thought that maybe he hated talking to her and she was just pushing him to do it. He frowned slightly, which only deepened her confidence in his dislike of her. "She's a lot younger than me. I rarely get to see her."

"Why?"

"She's in a boarding school in Derbyshire. And I, obviously, live in London. Most of the time, at least," he frowned even more, as if his own words were confusing him. He didn't elaborate any further, and Lizzy decided to leave him be.

"Fair enough," she said and, having finished her breakfast soon after that, left for her bedroom. She needed to shower and do her makeup – there was much to be done today.

But Darcy was definitely a very strange person. She couldn't settle on one opinion of him. And Lizzy never liked being hesitant or changing her mind.

* * *

A little before lunchtime, Lizzy found Mary in the living room, surrounded by a mountain of textbooks and revision guides. Only in university did Lizzy appreciate how kind her parents were. Law textbooks were ridiculously expensive, especially considering that they needed to always get the latest editions, or else information would be inaccurate. Mrs Bennet didn't even pause before paying her back for all the bought textbooks and offering to order any more that she needed, or would've preferred. True, her parents never particularly stressed the importance of good grades or took it upon themselves to keep her education in check, but all the sisters had any finance and resources they wanted at their disposal.

"I take it you didn't let Jane convince you to go with them?" Mary asked, without lifting her head from the paper she was working on.

Jane spent about half an hour earlier that morning, trying to talk Lizzy into joining her, Charles and Darcy on their trip to look around Canterbury. Pretty pointless, considering that Lizzy had lived there her whole life. That also meant that Jane would be preoccupied with Charles (or they will be occupier with each other), and Lizzy would be left to talk to Darcy. And she had spoken too much to him that morning as it was. Besides, she had a lot of homework to do anyway. So she didn't let Jane convince her or even guilt trip her into going.

"Nope. How's it going?" Lizzy asked her sister cheerfully, flopping down into an armchair and setting her Mac in her lap. "I thought you'd be in your room."

Mary looked up from her textbook, highlighter in her left hand and pushed her glasses back into place in an endearing gesture. She smiled. "Mother said I should leave my bedroom and take a break."

"So you brought your textbooks here?" Lizzy giggled in response to her sister's nod. "She said the same to me. _Lizzy, you might find it agreeable to step over the threshold of your room for an hour or so_ ," she masterfully copied her mother's voice and the manner of speech. "Which is why I brought my laptop here – to read some cases."

They both laughed at that.

"You know," Mary said, "you always see all those lawyers in movies with packs of cases, highlighting stuff."

"Pretty accurate. But you know I'm a highlighter person and honestly, I can't be asked to print all of this out," she turned her laptop to scroll through the case.

Her sister raised her eyebrows. "That looks like a long arse case."

Lizzy let out a laugh. "Yep. 120 pages. But I only need to read Lord Neuberger's part. That's the one where the legal principle is actually laid out. So that makes it around… 80 pages?"

"Much better," said Mary, mockingly serious. She suddenly frowned. "Listen, would you mind marking my physics paper? I've timed myself and everything…" Lizzy took a pack of A4 sheets her sister gave her. "I feel like if I mark another one I'll go insane."

"No problem," she nodded. "Can't promise you I'll understand anything, but with the help of the mark scheme, I think I'll manage," she paused. "I'll never forget that time we had our mocks in year 13, and in history, when we got the question paper, John and I just looked at each other and started laughing. Mainly because we've never seen questions like that before and had no idea what to do with them."

"John is the one you sat next to, right?"

"Yeah, but only in history."

"Well," Mary sighed. "It's only because you're one of those people who always say they don't know anything and then get really good grades."

That was true. Every time Lizzy took exams, she felt like she was pushing her luck. She never did exceptionally well, but always got grades good enough to be proud of. She always put in minimum effort too.

Lizzy stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Give me five minutes, then."

While Lizzy was marking the paper, Mary sat in her spot, reading one of the million textbooks she was surrounded with, highlighting important things. She would look up at Lizzy from time to time and fidget nervously.

Soon after, Lizzy let out a sigh and looked up. Mary almost jumped in her seat. "You know, you played all that worry really well, you should do drama, sis," Lizzy told her. "Because you got 98%. Jesus Christ, how is that even possible? You literally lost one mark."

"Really?" Mary seemed positively delighted. No wonder.

Lizzy nodded. "I guess that means you can take a break."

"I can?"

"Yeah."

"You're right," Mary nodded and started to get up.

"While you're at it," said Lizzy, "could you print off the article I had already sent to the printer?"

Her sister rolled her eyes, but smiled and went off to their father's study to print it out. While she was gone, Lizzy managed to get through a page of the case she was reading, which wasn't bad considering how difficult it was to read.

"Here."

"Thanks sis," Lizzy said, without moving her eyes away from the screen. Mary plopped down into her armchair, chewing on an apple.

"So who's that Darcy guy? And what do _you_ think of him?" she asked.

Lizzy rolled her eyes at that. After last night's party, the twins told the whole family that there was something between her and Darcy since he was the one who drove her to the pub to collect James. Lydia said so on the family's Facebook group chat, but no one had responded anything. Lizzy didn't dispute it – deciding to just ignore it – and was now wondering what her mother was going to say about it. There were two options – she would either be delighted at the prospect of her daughter dating someone so rich _or_ she would hate the idea of it because of how 'arrogant and stuck up' he is (Lizzy her Mrs Bennet say that to Mr Bennet at some point).

"Look, there's nothing between us. The guy doesn't even like me," Lizzy explained.

"Really?" Mary seemed confused. "He looked at you a lot last night. Especially when you were dancing."

"He probably hated my dancing skills or just kept trying to find more flaws in me," she shrugged.

"That's very pessimistic of you."

"More like realistic."

Mary didn't continue on the topic – she knew that if Lizzy didn't want to talk about something (or admit anything), there was no point in trying to force her. She was as obstinate as a mule, and sometimes she needed time to work things out in her head and left alone.

* * *

 **Please leave reviews! Those actually make me so happy it's kind of sad.**

 **P.S. In case if anyone were wondering, the classic movies mentioned in the beginning are:**

 **1\. Tumbling trick - _Holiday_ 1938, starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn;  
2\. Murder mystery - _Rear Window_ 1954, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly;  
3\. Telephone conversations - _Pillow Talk_ 1959, starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day;  
4\. The river - _River of No Return_ 1954, starring Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe;  
5\. Performing on the stage - _Gentlemen Prefer Blondes_ 1953, starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.**

 **You can probably tell I'm an old movie junkie :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Spontaneity isn't usually my thing, but today I literally just opened the document and wrote this chapter. I _am_ sorry for not posting for so long, but sometimes I do need to leave things alone so that what I write comes out decent, and not forced.**

 **Hope you enjoy, and please leave reviews!**

* * *

Once the memorable weekend was over, Lizzy returned to the city. The two-hour drive up to London was a nightmare (sort of). This time she didn't manage to get out of going with Jane and Charlie (Mrs Bennet quite reasonably said that there was no point in paying for an expensive train ticket if everyone else was going that way anyway), which meant Darcy was there too, and they both sat in the back – it quickly became the saddest place on Earth, at least in Lizzy's opinion. Even if the two of them had things in common, she would never know because he constantly seemed moody and brooding, looking out of the window intently as if he'd never been to England before. That sort of aura Lizzy thought it would be impossible to penetrate.

At some point Jane must have realised the awkwardness that reigned in the back of the car, and tried to start a conversation.

"What area of law do you practice in, Will?" she asked, smiling politely. "You never talk about it much."

Darcy sighed like it was torture for him to speak. "That's because not many people enjoy it when I talk about my job."

"I definitely don't," Charlie said, proving his point.

"But I appreciate you asking," Will said to Jane. "And I practice commercial law."

Lizzy snorted at that, and both Jane and Will turned around to look at her. Her sister gave her a dirty look. "I'm sorry, it's just something that I would completely expect from you. No offence," she added, seeing him start to frown. "But you know, I don't think I can judge you on that. If you're going to be stuck in this profession, you might as well do something that's going to make you rich."

Darcy sighed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Jane giggled. "Lizzy has a strong sense of morals. She says she doesn't like the idea of huge companies suing other huge companies for money," she looked at Darcy again. "You know, she always volunteers somewhere in Canterbury when it's not term time. Every summer since year 11."

"That's commendable," Darcy said after a slight pause and looked into the window again, and Lizzy rolled her eyes and when Jane looked at her, she gave her sister an accusing look. Jane raised her hands in question, but Lizzy merely dismissed her.

After that, Jane and Charlie started talking about the first time they met – _those lovebirds_ , Lizzy thought with a smile – and she and Darcy remained silent, as if respecting their friends' privacy. After they too fell silent, Lizzy was surprised when Darcy started talking to her.

"What A Levels did you take, Elizabeth?" It still annoyed her to no end that he called her Elizabeth, when the whole world called her Lizzy. But she recognised the olive branch and gave him a smile that told him she appreciated him choosing a neutral topic.

"French, English Literature, History and Maths," she listed.

"Maths is quite an outlier amongst those, isn't it?" Darcy asked.

"Lizzy's always been good at Maths," Jane explained.

"And I'd heard before I made my choices that universities like people who can do well at subjects at opposite ends of the spectrum. Besides, doing Maths sort of keeps one's mental agility in place," Lizzy elaborated.

"She actually got an A* in it," Jane said proudly, giving Lizzy a sneaky smile. It was clear now – Jane was trying her best at matchmaking, which she wasn't very subtle about, considering her complete incapacity where scheming and manipulating were concerned.

"It's just because of how scary Mr Ferguson was," Lizzy said, and turned to look at Darcy, who seemed to be listening with interest. "He was the most terrifying teacher in the world. He just sort of bullied all of us into knowing things."

Darcy smiled. "We had a similar teacher at Eton."

Lizzy raised her brows. "You went to Eton?"

"We both did," Charlie supplied. "It was the time of my life."

"Yes, I've heard boarding schools can be amazing," Jane chimed in helpfully.

Of course he went to Eton. She knew he was from a wealthy and sophisticated family, but she never realised just how wealthy. No wonder he got into Cambridge and was now earning heaps of money. But then, she stopped herself. One doesn't choose a family to be born into (she'd know that better than anyone else). Besides, he always worked hard – always having his iPad with him, even on Sundays – so he probably deserved his position. Admittedly, he was used to living a good life, but that wasn't the same as taking things for granted – he just didn't seem the sort to do so.

"Do they teach you how to be so debonair in Eton?" Jane asked Charlie, giving him a smile, and Lizzy realised she must have missed some part of the conversation while she was pondering Darcy's moral character.

"No, not really. Otherwise Darcy would be debonair too," he responded, winking at his friend through the rear-view mirror.

"Is he not?" Jane asked innocently, and Lizzy tried to make it seem like she wasn't listening too intently.

"Debonairness implies self-confidence, style and charm, Miss Bennet," Darcy responded, and Lizzy tried not to roll her eyes at how posh he sounded. Though, secretly, she really liked it. She just wished it didn't show on her face because she had always been an open book.

"And which one of those do you find lacking?" Lizzy asked, realising that it sounded very close to flirting and immediately tensing because of that. Someone like Darcy would never like someone like her. He thought he lightheaded and not nearly good-looking enough.

"Darcy has zero charm," Charlie laughed benevolently.

Lizzy looked at Will, but he just smiled lightly. "That's true."

That turned Lizzy pensive once again. It's not that he wasn't charming… he probably had all the potential – especially considering his looks – but he just didn't know how to use it. She wondered why. She didn't say anything else to Darcy until the end of the trip.

* * *

The next two weeks, full of seminars, tutorials and lectures, passed in a haze. Lizzy was working very hard for her grades, she felt exam season approaching. Exams at their university took place after Christmas break, but she wanted to ensure she had covered all the material so she would only need to revise it at home. Because of all the stress she hasn't spoken to Jane a lot, let alone all her other sisters.

In mid-November their university hosted a law fair. Lizzy didn't want to go, but Charlotte insisted.

"Why do I have to?" Lizzy said, stopping before the entrance to their law school's building, raising her eyebrows in an attempt to make her friend feel guilty. "I'm only a first year student."

"So what? You want a training contract or what?"

"Not right now!"

"We've only got a year left before we have to apply, Lizzy. Stop being so stubborn, let's go," and she tugged at Lizzy's sleeve.

"Such a waste of time," Lizzy mumbled to herself but went nonetheless.

They both scanned their student ID's and got the maps from the man who met them by the door.

"I want to talk to someone from _Allen & Overy_," Charlotte said, looking intently at the map, "they're meant to be in the big hall, stand number 17. Coming with me?"

"Sure."

They entered the big hall, where presumably all the Magic Circle and Silver Circle firms were. Lizzy didn't even know if she would be applying to one of those. She did appreciate that to make a significant difference in the legal world she would need to be in one of them, but she honestly didn't find the hectic sort of lifestyle they led particularly appealing. She liked to actually have free time. Or time to sleep, for that matter.

Looking around at the sort of people they were surrounded by, Lizzy suddenly felt self-conscious. With the way she wore her makeup and how she dressed, she stood out from the other people who congregated in the room. She wasn't looking indecent or anything, just like someone who wasn't very serious – with her short skirts and curled hair. She straightened her spine and decided to pay her no mind. It was 2017, surely no one would care what she looked like, it was all about her brains.

Charlotte was busy talking to the training manager of _Allen & Overy_, so Lizzy looked around, noticing the stand of _Slaughter & May_. She has read a lot about their work on the news, and truth be told, she quite liked the firm. They seemed very ethical about what they did. She decided to come up to their representative.

The guy in a polished suit looked her up and down and gave her a polite, but very insincere smile. Lizzy decided to look past that.

"Hello," she smiled at him. "I had a question. Would your firm recommend taking a vacation scheme in the first year? Or would it be better to start in the second?"

"The deadlines for this year's vacation placements are too near, I'm afraid you won't have time to apply," the guy said in quite a rude way, raising his eyebrows as if asking, ' _What the hell are you doing here?_ '

Lizzy swallowed a lump of irritation in her throat. "And do you expect candidates with a first? Or will a 2:1 do?"

He was about to say something, when a guy whom Lizzy recognised to be from year above came said something to the man she was talking to, and he immediately stepped away from her, turning all his attention on the guy, smiling with his teeth and answering his questions with energy he seemed to had misplaced when he was talking to her a minute ago. Lizzy was even more frustrated. Some people were so sexist and just plain rude.

She turned away to leave, but bumped into… Darcy. He was the last person she expected to see here. Surely he had better things to do than go around universities as a representative.

"Hey," she said, looking up into his eyes, suddenly feeling a little out of breath. He did have very beautiful eyes, she had just noticed.

"Hi," he echoed, his hands in the pockets of his suit.

"You work for _Slaughter & May_?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah."

"And you're at the Law Fair at my university?" she asked, sounding a little stupid.

"Yeah."

They were both tense; tension also filling the air between them. She was quiet, not knowing what to say, but feeling that it would be rude to just say something and walk away, since they knew each other better than that. She also noticed that she kept looking at his lips from time to time, and decided that she should stop being so obvious about it. Just thinking of him in that way made her a complete idiot; he'd never be interested in her.

"You know, I could answer your questions," he offered, breaking the silence. It felt weird, like she awoke from some sort of slumber.

"Um, okay," Lizzy said, looking down at her hands, as if she had some sort of list of questions, when really she was just holding her phone. Then she looked up, her spine straightening in resolve. "Do a lot of women work in _Slaughter & May_?"

His eyebrows lifted, surprised by the question: "Unfortunately, no. We get about 40% of female trainees, and that number crumbles as you go up the ladder."

"Unfortunately?" Lizzy couldn't help but ask. He didn't seem like someone too bothered by diversity.

He didn't seem offended, merely shrugged. "We need more women in our profession."

"Why?"

"Different perspective on the same issues is very important. Look at Baroness Hale, for example."

"What about her?" Lizzy knew Lady Hale was an amazing Supreme Court judge, she had made a lot of difference since 2004, when she joined the House of Lords and later the Supreme Court.

"Her thinking process is very different from those of other Lord Justices. She sees issues in different light. She was the one who expanded on the issue of domestic violence, you know? Extended the meaning to include psychological, economic and any other type of manipulating, whereas before it was merely about physical abuse."

Lizzy smiled. "No, I didn't know that. But I really liked her judgment in the case of _R v Denbigh High School_. Have you read that case?"

He nodded. "The one about the Muslim girl and uniform policy. The way she talked about hijabs being a form of empowerment for Muslim girls rather than oppression really put things into perspective."

"Yeah. It's a shame she's not the President of the Supreme Court."

"She will be when Lord Neuberger retires next year," Darcy said.

"Good," Lizzy said quietly and nodded, a smile appearing on her face. Darcy didn't seem a wealthy snob who only cared about money anymore. How did she not notice it before? All she needed to do was ask the right questions. "Why on Earth are you doing commercial law?"

He froze, astonishment on his face. Lizzy realised she sounded quite rude. "Excuse me?"

"I just think you could do a lot more good doing something that wasn't just about money," she shrugged, unapologetic.

He frowned, pensive. "I never thought about it, actually. Generations of my family did this. So I guess I just followed the footsteps."

That actually made sense to Lizzy. It wasn't practiced in their family, but she knew people who were doing courses like medicine, engineering – or, quite often, law – because their families wanted them to do that. It was difficult to resist one's parents sometimes. Her relationship with her mother, for example, wasn't ideal, but as much as Lizzy liked to talk about independence and free will, she has never done anything her mother was explicitly unhappy with. Especially when it came to things that actually mattered.

"Fair enough," she said, a smile on her face still and no judgment in her voice. Darcy relaxed a little.

"You should pick up the welcome pack," he pointed to the table in front of the stand. "The company always provides really nice pens."

"Pens. I'm a law student, Will, I don't write, only type," Lizzy said with a grin, and Darcy chuckled at that. She realised this was the first time she called him by his first name. By the weird look in his eyes she could somehow tell he realised that too. "Well, um," she said quickly, trying to break whatever spell reigned between them, and reach back towards the table, "I do need the post-it notes, especially the small ones – you know, statute books and all."

As looked at him again, she dropped the plastic case with post-its, and they both leaned down to pick it up, his forehead hitting her nose quite strongly. They both chuckled, Lizzy bringing her hand to her nose for a few seconds, and said "sorry" as they straightened up, but then Lizzy felt something warm and wet on her face. It took her mere moments to realise what was happening and then she threw her head back and pinched her nose to stop blood from flowing.

"Shoot," Darcy said, his face paling in panic.

"Don't worry," Lizzy said, "this happens quite a lot. The bathroom—"

"I'll take you," he said in a voice that told her there was no point in arguing. He took her by the elbow and almost dragged her out of the hall and towards a small corridor. The disabled toilet was the nearest, so he opened the door and pushed her in.

She stood by the sink, getting tissues out of the dispenser and bringing them to her nose. Darcy hovered by the entrance.

"You can come in, you know. I'm not going to actually sit down and pee or something," she said teasingly, but his face remained pale and serious.

He glanced into the corridor over his shoulder, "Doesn't seem appropriate—"

"Humour me," Lizzy said, and he abided. After he shut the door, she said, "It just looks a little weird with you standing outside an open door to the toilet cubicle."

"Yeah," he agreed in a distant voice, his eyes never leaving her hand that was holding the tissue to her nose.

She smiled. "It's just some blood, you know?"

"It's my fault."

She shook her head. "It's no one's fault," he didn't seem to believe her, but nodded nonetheless. "Besides, it'll be over soon," Lizzy said, getting a new piece of tissue and stuffing it into her nostril. When he looked at her weirdly because of it, she shrugged, "Always helps to stop the blood flow."

They were silent for a few long moments, until Darcy started to speak.

"You know, you shouldn't be put off our firm because of some sexist prick."

She looked at him through the mirror. "You heard the conversation?"

"Yeah. Don't pay him any mind. He qualified a few months ago, has an ego bigger than himself."

Lizzy turned to face him. "So women aren't constantly treated like that in your firm?"

"Certainly not," he said firmly, but without taking any offence.

"Well," Lizzy said, turning around to pull the tissue out of her nose and throw it into the bin, "I'll take that as a compliment. You clearly think I'm clever enough to be accepted into _Slaughter & May_," she got a lip balm out of her bag and started applying it.

"You should try for a vacation scheme. The deadline's in January, you still have time."

"Really? Okay."

"Just don't expect any… assistance from me," he added quietly, and she turned around, her lip balm still in her hand.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Lizzy responded, once again noticing that their conversation sounded a lot like flirting.

He was also looking at her lips now. But she didn't think it meant anything. She just applied lip balm to them, that's why he was looking, not because he would actually think of kissing her or anything. But then he leaned closer, and her heart started beating a little too fast for her comfort. It's okay. It's just Darcy. She didn't even like him, for goodness' sake. But how could she not? He was handsome, smart, progressive-minded, and what he lacked in charm was compensated by his kind spirit. He seemed genuinely worried when he saw her nosebleed, and… there was a lot of good about him, and she didn't know how she didn't notice it before. But then, what he said about her the first time they met… He didn't like her. Or maybe he did. Maybe once he got to know her, he changed his opinion too.

She was looking into his eyes, hypnotised; their lips were about to meet, his breath hot on her mouth, when someone yanked the handle of the locked door, breaking the spell and making them leap apart.

Lizzy looked to the door, then back to Darcy, feeling herself blush. "Charlotte will be looking for me."

"Of course," he nodded, solemn, his hands once again in his pockets.

"Thank you for your advice," she said, starting to head for the door, when he suddenly caught her hand. Lizzy froze, and he immediately let her go, misunderstanding her reaction.

"I'll see you," he said when she looked him in the eyes, his words sounding more than just polite; sounding like a promise.

"Yeah. See you," and with that, she pushed the door and went looking for Charlotte.


End file.
